I bought a stock Harbor Freight 2HP dust collector and converted it to a 2 stage cyclone separator using a piece of 24 gauge sheet metal that I had cut a local machine shop for $50, some scrap wood and a $20 55 gal barrel.

I had a piece of sheet metal plasma cnc cut and rolled at a local machine shop to be formed into the cyclone.

I clamped a piece of 2x4 to my work bench to extend off the table to lay the sheet metal over top of and give a backer for drilling against. I clamped both ends of the sheet metal once set up in the correct cone shape. I then drilled through holes all along the 1" overlap seem.

Once the holes were drilled I used a counter sink on the inside to remove the burrs left behind

I then used pop rivets from the inside to leave as smooth a surface as possible.

Once all rivets were in a covered the seem and rivets with HVAC foil tape.

On the body of the duct collector I put foil tape on the inside to plug the stock mounting holes and on the outside plugged the holes with caulking.

I cut apart the band clamps that came with the duct collector and attached them on either side of the body to hold the cyclone to the duct collector.

The band clamps were attached with rivets from the inside 180 degrees apart form each other.

This is how they work to hold each other together.

I set my band saw table to 45 degrees and cut out a circle to plug the hole in the top of the dust collector body.

I then took that circle to the router to cut a rabbit half way up the 3/4" sheet of plywood. This rabbit was to match the size hole in the body of the dust collector.

It was attached with 4 small screws.

I then held 2 pieces of 2x4 next to the body to trace out the profile. These pieces of wood will hold the body and cyclone up on the wall.

I cut the profile on the band saw.

Both 2x4s were attached with 3 screws each 180 degrees apart form each other.

I had to take off the top hole plug to cut an opening for the intake pipe that extends from the impeller down into the cyclone.

I inserted the 5" HVAC pipe into the hole and re-attached the plywood hole plug with 4 screws and caulked around the edges. At the point the 5" HVAC pipe is lose so it can be moved up after mounting to the wall.

I found my studs and attached a large piece of plywood to the wall and a smaller piece just for the motor/impeller.

I used long lag bolts to attach the motor to the studs/plywood.

For the body of the dust collector support I drilled many pocket holes to be mounted to the plywood on the wall.

Mounting both supports to the wall with 1.25" pocket screws.

The body was slipped in and more pocket screws attach the wall brackets to the 2x4 installed on the dust collector body.

I then pushed the 5" HVAC pipe over the impeller inlet and attached it with 1 screw in the front and sealed it with caulking.

The inside gets caulking as well.

I bought a used 55 gallon barrel for $20 and cut the lid off (It was used for vinegar so its not going to kill me with crazy chemicals) to use as the bin for the dust.

I used a 3/4" piece of melamine particle board to trace out the correct size circle needed for a lid.

I cut it out on the band saw.

I then attached a circle cutting jig to my router and the lid and cut a rabbit all along the edge.

I spread caulking along the partcle board to seal it and to give the foam better adhesion.

I marked and cut a hole out for the plastic insert to accept the flex hose from the dust collector kit.

I screwed the plastic piece on with 3 screws and caulked around the edges.

I marked and cut a square hole for a viewing window.

I drilled 6 holes along the perimeter of the 1/4" Plexiglas and laid a bead of caulking around it and held it in place with 6 screws.

Once the caulking under the lid was dry I attached some adhesive weather stripping to act as a seal to stop any air from getting in/out.

The lid is temporarily held on with 4 screws through the top. I later replaced this with 5 toggle latches for quick removal.

I added some caulk around the bottom of the cyclone and cut some slits in the flex pipe to allow it to get more grip and not come off easily.

The flex pipe was held in place with lots of foil tape and the bottom gets a hose clamp to hold on to the lid of the barrel.

I added caulking all around the body where it meets the cyclone. To test the cyclone I hooked up a 4" flex pipe and started sucking.

The cyclone did a great job with the dust and only the micro particles escaped. This is negated because I later vented my dust collector outside.

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